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What to teach or how to teach?: A survey on the consequences a less detail-controlled curriculum has on English teachers´ choice of English-language literature
Halmstad University, School of Education, Humanities and Social Science.
2023 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (professional degree), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This essay aims to examine which consequences a less-detail controlled curriculum has on English teachers’ choice of English-language literature. With support from the literature review, this essay argues that an unofficial, tacit school canon of English-language literature mainly composed of ten literary works seems to have been established in Swedish upper-secondary schools, despite the Swedish National Curriculum not naming specific literary works educators in Sweden are required to use in their teaching. Thus, this essay answers the following questions: 1) Which English-language literature do English teachers in Sweden use in their teaching? 2) Does a less-detail controlled curriculum contribute to English teachers in Sweden being more inclusive in their choice of literature in teaching? The results support the hypothesis; that despite the ten literary works found in the unofficial, tacit school canon might be vulnerable to the same criticism aimed at the “Western literary canon” and a “prescribed” curriculum. Yet, no evidence was found which would illustrate that a less detail-controlled curriculum does not contribute to English teachers in Sweden being more inclusive in their choice of literature in teaching since the inclusive classroom is not only a matter of what is being taught but also of how it is being taught. Additionally, the study shows that there are countries in the Western world that name literary works as a teaching requirement for educators that “silently” marginalize and privilege some voices. Despite educators not being able to influence what is being taught, educators have developed strategies and methods (critical literacy/pedagogy, and intersectionality) on how these literary works are taught to learners with the aim to make room for a spectrum of voices when being required to teach from a “prescribed” curriculum. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 40
Keywords [en]
Swedish National Curriculum, less detail-controlled, English-language literature, critical literacy, critical pedagogy, intersectionality, Half of a Yellow Sun, Swedish Cultural Canon of Literature
National Category
Humanities and the Arts
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-51825OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-51825DiVA, id: diva2:1805304
Subject / course
English
Educational program
Subject Teacher Education for Secondary School
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Examiners
Available from: 2023-10-17 Created: 2023-10-16 Last updated: 2025-10-01Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf